Page 119 of The Champion

Stryder dug his heels into the rug as chills swept over him. His entire body involuntarily jerked.

Rowena hesitated as if losing her nerve, then she took him into her mouth.

Closing his eyes, Stryder savored the feel of her wet, sleek mouth taking him in. Her tongue swept against his flesh, making him harder, heavier.

He buried one hand in her hair as he watched her pleasure him. The sight of her blond hair fanned out over him almost succeeded in undoing him.

But he wasn’t ready for that.

Not yet.

Rowena was startled as Stryder rose up quickly.

“Don’t stop,” he said breathlessly as he reached for her and pulled her body toward him.

She wasn’t sure what he intended, until he lay himself beside her so that she lay over his chest with her feet at his head.

“Stryder?”

His warm hands slid over her back as her breasts pressed against the hard ridges of his abdomen.

“Aye?” He nipped the back of her thigh with his teeth.

“What are-“ She broke her words off with a cry as he buried his lips against the center of her body and his intent became obvious.

Taking a moment to savor his caresses and licks, she then returned to taste him with equal enthusiasm.

Oh, he was ever splendid. Rowena trembled at their mutual giving and sharing. It was what she loved most about her warrior.

He wasn’t content to just take from others. He was ever so giving of himself. Considerate and kind.

Stryder was the very antithesis of everything she found desirable in a man, and at the same time, he was everything she had ever wanted and more.

There was nothing she wanted except to stay with him. To keep him close to her and yet she knew he wouldn’t stay. He would ever be a falcon out to throw his jesses and flee whatever cage she tried to force him into. A woman couldn’t keep a man so proud and dedicated for her own.

And she ached with the truth of it.

But she wouldn’t think of the month’s end that would see them separated. Instead, she preferred to think only of the time they did have together. To focus on the fact that for a little while, she had tamed her falcon and taught him to feast from her hand.

Rowena moaned as her body exploded.

Stryder took no mercy on her as he felt her climax. Instead, he licked and teased until the very last tremor had gone through her and she was begging him for clemency.

Laughing, he rolled over, pinning her under him. He got up and turned about so that he could crawl up her body. Laying himself between her thighs, he stared down at her as he slid himself deep inside her hot, wet body.

She arched herself against him, drawing him even deeper. No longer in the mood for tender love play, Stryder thrust against her, seeking a temporary solace that would keep him from thinking of the inevitable.

He wanted to be with her like this so that he could drown out the sound of Damien’s voice that threatened to take Rowena away from him.

He didn’t want to let her go and he didn’t know how to keep her.

Was it possible to have both?

Nay, he knew better. This was the real world where dreams, very seldom, if ever, came true.

And when he finally found his release, he roared with it.

Rowena cradled Stryder to her, as she watched the pleasure on his face, as she felt him shuddering. His warm seed poured into her, connecting them in a way nothing else could.